People take up triathlon for all kinds of reasons. Bob Willig’s reason was twofold: 1) He didn’t want to die prematurely of a heart attack like his father, and 2) a neighbor of his who happened to be a former Olympic triathlete suggested he give triathlon a try. Bob prepared for his debut sprint race wanting nothing more than to lose a few pounds, but when he ended up winning his age group he was hooked.

Now 59 years old with a wife, two adult children, and a job as a mechanical project manager in Ballwin, MO, Bob has completed five iron-distance events in addition to a bunch of shorter triathlons. He was turned on to 80/20 by a friend who had completed more than 40 Ironmans and believed Bob would find greater longevity in the sport if he did less training at moderate intensity and more at low intensity. He was right.

“With the 80/20 plan,” Bob says, “my body isn’t as sore and broken down by race day, which is very important to performance. If you hurt, you won’t be fast!” Most recently, Bob completed Ironman Tulsa using a custom 80/20 training plan designed by Coach Matt. Despite having been unable to run for three months prior to starting the plan due to a knee injury that required surgery, Bob was able to finish one hour before the cutoff time.

Based on the sum of his experiences with 80/20, Bob says, “I would recommend reading the book and signing up. Dave and Matt are great people and their plan is second to none!”